Post navigation

Patrick Holloway: Summer Gym Rat

Patrick Holloway is essentially the back court scoring George Mason is returning next season. He certainly has some big shoes to fill with the production we saw from Bryon Allen and Sherrod Wright. If you were at our Q & A with Paul Hewitt a back in May, he spoke a lot about how Holloway is improving and that he was attending one of coach John Lucas’ skills camps in Houston. Lucas spoke of Holloway’s other “gear” when he wants it.

Patrick Holloway from George Mason can score the ball and has another gear when he wants it . Very high upside if he works

I would agree with that. With Allen and Wright in front of him last season he often had a short leash off the bench. He would often come out guns blazing and if the shots didn’t fall he would become a liability. This upcoming season is much different as the opportunity is there for him to log a lot of minutes and be one of the focal points of the offense. But they need more from him than just shooting. I asked assistant coach Chris Kreider what he thought Holloway would improve on the most this summer, “He has always made shots, but his shooting percentages and assists will go up. Has the big shot gene!”

Lately he’s been posting some of his summer workouts:

Holloway taking control and putting the ball on the floor more can really open things up for Mason next season. They will have a decent scoring attack up front with Marko Gujanicic, Jalen Jenkins, Julian Royal, and Erik Copes. It is great when he’s bombing three’s but they will need help keeping opposing teams honest on defense.

Incoming freshman Eric Lockett will join him in the back court at the two guard spot and hopefully his inside-outside game will complement Holloway’s. Lockett was a solid defender in high school and that is something Holloway needs to improve upon before next season. His development could be very crucial to Mason’s chances of winning more than four conference games next season.

Coaches and other deep experts on the sport always say that a coach should be judged on two things: recruiting and player development. Hewitt’s always had a reputation for the former and the pickups for next season seem to reinforce that. What I take away from these videos is that there’s plenty of player development going on as well.

As for better defense, I expect we might see some more steals but an above-average offense is Patrick’s addition to the team and Mason will have to live with below-average defense in return. It’s not unlike McDermott, Fredette, Curry, etc. They provide so much on offense that you accept if they aren’t lock-down defenders. In such a situation it becomes imperative that others can apply defensive pressure on the ball and around the rim.